Salicylate Sensitivity/ Intolerance Article

I'm putting this here because I think it might be an interesting read for people who know they're sensitive to sals because of their DH.

The article contains very interesting details about low sals diets and what people would naturally eat if they didn't overdose on fruits and high sals veggies.
I never thought that a high fruit diet could ever hurt anyone until I experienced it first hand!

Thanks for posting this Dani. Its an interesting, well written article.

I too have salicylate sensitivity--along with celiac and a few other sensitivities: amines, tannins, and oxalates.

Going off the salicylates nearly two years ago was the first part of this wrinkle in my healing journey--and it measurably made me less jumpy, with legs flailing at night with less pronounced eczema, but it did not do the whole thing. I eventually discovered amines and tannins were giving me migraines, it wasn't all just "CC to gluten.

I am finally am starting to sleep better now that I am detoxing from the oxalates--plus my skin is less red and inflamed (ears and vulva/anal area) with fewer hives. I am taking calcium citrate before my meals as well as eating less oxalates. Further I am taking certain supplements so my body produces less oxalate too.

When I was younger I had a condition that looked very like DH but I am not certain it really was. I had these tiny bumps all over my back and seat plus up on either side at the edge of my face running into my hairline and down either side of my neck. It went away after I stopped being off things in the wheat family--which at the time I thought I just had an allergy to.

However the trace gluten still got me and thus I was frequently sick a lot (for longer than most people) with colds, flu and bronchitis--for which I took lots of herbs, which likely eventually precipitated the full blown salicylate sensitivity. Nevertheless I think the herbs were better than being on antibiotics all the time, like my doctors had prescribed due to my sensitive kidneys. Thing was I became extremely allergic to antibiotics, so it really wasn't much of a choice... Plus testing myself by using a food journal and going on a simplified diet to figure it all out really helped. Thing was that I had far more sensitivities than anyone at the time could really help me with. However rotating my diet and going off the gluten overall was a good choice.

I think maybe there is a spectrum to these skin conditions, eh?

There is no way at this point I am willing to go eat gluten to find out if I have DH or not. Gluten attacks my overall health and even if I just get CC'd too often it starts going after my kidneys as well as my lungs.

I was originally diagnosed with celiac from a doctor formally from the Mayo Clinic after I stopped growing and contracted pneumonia as a 4 month old infant first introduced to grains. Unfortunately I was put back onto gluten when I was five. I kept growing so they thought I was OK--even though suddenly I became a sickly child again whereas I had been very healthy in the interim.

I think if I had not had my system under attack by gluten all those many years I would be less sensitive to all these foods. But here I am. Its much better to know what it is and what to do than continue to suffer is how I look at it. I am not 100% yet, but my skin and nervous system and overall health is getting better all the time. Certainly I don't get sick anymore, which is in large part due to being off all trace gluten--for which I am thankful to this forum for pointing out the need.

Lately going off these other food sensitivities is finally giving me relief from what I call the itchy bitchies. I am certain you can relate! I personally think all these food sensitivities that affect the skin (and some other related systems like the lymphatic and renal systems) indicate a liver that is overwhelmed--so the body uses the skin as an adjunct for the detoxification process. It all seems to start with leaky gut of course. Ouch and itch, eh?

I'm putting this here because I think it might be an interesting read for people who know they're sensitive to sals because of their DH.

The article contains very interesting details about low sals diets and what people would naturally eat if they didn't overdose on fruits and high sals veggies. I never thought that a high fruit diet could ever hurt anyone until I experienced it first hand!

Thanks for the article. It kinda makes me cringe because before I ever heard about gluten, I believed I was allergic to salicylate acids. Since, I found out about celiac's disease, I put those allergies on the back burner and try to reevaluate everything I've been told like; I was allergic to the cold and pollen. I'm extremely heat sensitive, and I'm allergic to grass not pollen. Since, I've been gluten-free, it has helped me considerably. But I find myself still allergic to some things like fragrance, Mountain Dew, and brown rice. I'm not particular fond of fruits and vegetables, so I stay away from them, but I used to get reactions when I ate them. I did 3 years earlier, had a horrible reaction to some medications, and it turns out everything I took, was gluten-free. I'm noticing, some eczema spots again and explainable ( but unexplainable stomache pain). After, reading that article, it pains me to say, I need to reevaluate my diet again.

Thanks for posting this Dani. Its an interesting, well written article.

I too have salicylate sensitivity--along with celiac and a few other sensitivities: amines, tannins, and oxalates.

Going off the salicylates nearly two years ago was the first part of this wrinkle in my healing journey--and it measurably made me less jumpy, with legs flailing at night with less pronounced eczema, but it did not do the whole thing. I eventually discovered amines and tannins were giving me migraines, it wasn't all just "CC to gluten.

I am finally am starting to sleep better now that I am detoxing from the oxalates--plus my skin is less red and inflamed (ears and vulva/anal area) with fewer hives. I am taking calcium citrate before my meals as well as eating less oxalates. Further I am taking certain supplements so my body produces less oxalate too.

When I was younger I had a condition that looked very like DH but I am not certain it really was. I had these tiny bumps all over my back and seat plus up on either side at the edge of my face running into my hairline and down either side of my neck. It went away after I stopped being off things in the wheat family--which at the time I thought I just had an allergy to.

However the trace gluten still got me and thus I was frequently sick a lot (for longer than most people) with colds, flu and bronchitis--for which I took lots of herbs, which likely eventually precipitated the full blown salicylate sensitivity. Nevertheless I think the herbs were better than being on antibiotics all the time, like my doctors had prescribed due to my sensitive kidneys. Thing was I became extremely allergic to antibiotics, so it really wasn't much of a choice... Plus testing myself by using a food journal and going on a simplified diet to figure it all out really helped. Thing was that I had far more sensitivities than anyone at the time could really help me with. However rotating my diet and going off the gluten overall was a good choice.

I think maybe there is a spectrum to these skin conditions, eh?

There is no way at this point I am willing to go eat gluten to find out if I have DH or not. Gluten attacks my overall health and even if I just get CC'd too often it starts going after my kidneys as well as my lungs.

I was originally diagnosed with celiac from a doctor formally from the Mayo Clinic after I stopped growing and contracted pneumonia as a 4 month old infant first introduced to grains. Unfortunately I was put back onto gluten when I was five. I kept growing so they thought I was OK--even though suddenly I became a sickly child again whereas I had been very healthy in the interim.

I think if I had not had my system under attack by gluten all those many years I would be less sensitive to all these foods. But here I am. Its much better to know what it is and what to do than continue to suffer is how I look at it. I am not 100% yet, but my skin and nervous system and overall health is getting better all the time. Certainly I don't get sick anymore, which is in large part due to being off all trace gluten--for which I am thankful to this forum for pointing out the need.

Lately going off these other food sensitivities is finally giving me relief from what I call the itchy bitchies. I am certain you can relate! I personally think all these food sensitivities that affect the skin (and some other related systems like the lymphatic and renal systems) indicate a liver that is overwhelmed--so the body uses the skin as an adjunct for the detoxification process. It all seems to start with leaky gut of course. Ouch and itch, eh?

Yolo, I have been thinking about your reply ever since you posted it. You have so many sensitivities! How are you coping? It really can't be easy and I would say I'm sorry you had a tough journey, but I think you're in a happy place now that you're feeling better! Thanks for sharing your story. I've been very curious about your diet however? Would you mind sharing what you usually eat at a daily basis, and how the supplements you're taking contribute to your low oxalate diet? I'm also curious how you found out about those other sensitivities (aside from the symptoms).

0

Self diagnosed January 2012, and on elimination, low-salicylate & low-iodine diet.
Also G6PD

Thanks for the article. It kinda makes me cringe because before I ever heard about gluten, I believed I was allergic to salicylate acids. Since, I found out about celiac's disease, I put those allergies on the back burner and try to reevaluate everything I've been told like; I was allergic to the cold and pollen. I'm extremely heat sensitive, and I'm allergic to grass not pollen. Since, I've been gluten-free, it has helped me considerably. But I find myself still allergic to some things like fragrance, Mountain Dew, and brown rice. I'm not particular fond of fruits and vegetables, so I stay away from them, but I used to get reactions when I ate them. I did 3 years earlier, had a horrible reaction to some medications, and it turns out everything I took, was gluten-free. I'm noticing, some eczema spots again and explainable ( but unexplainable stomache pain). After, reading that article, it pains me to say, I need to reevaluate my diet again.

Celiac messes with our gut's natural balance so all those weird sensitivities and intolerances are caused by years of eating damaging foods we could not tolerate. Such a sad thing that most of us always thought it was the other way around.. that the side effects were the cause, and then we tried fixing the side effects but end up causing new intolerances as a result. I wasn't too sensitive to sals until I unknowingly went on an all sals diet for months.. thinking fruits and veggies were my friends haha :-) I have learned how to love my supplements now.

0

Self diagnosed January 2012, and on elimination, low-salicylate & low-iodine diet.
Also G6PD

Yolo, I have been thinking about your reply ever since you posted it. You have so many sensitivities! How are you coping? It really can't be easy and I would say I'm sorry you had a tough journey, but I think you're in a happy place now that you're feeling better! Thanks for sharing your story. I've been very curious about your diet however? Would you mind sharing what you usually eat at a daily basis, and how the supplements you're taking contribute to your low oxalate diet? I'm also curious how you found out about those other sensitivities (aside from the symptoms).

Hi Dani, I am glad you got something out of my story. It has been a long time coming--figuring these things out. I have been greatly helped these last two years by the folks on the salicylate sensitivity forum. Check them out sometime! They do not limit themselves to talking about just salicylates since there are many related food sensitivity issues that begin and/or are exacerbated by leaky gut. I think maybe celiac qualifies??

I also have a couple of friends who likely have oxalate sensitivity so I started reading more about it at the oxalate sensitivity info site after hearing about it on the salicylate sensitivity site. There is also a yahoo group associated with it called: trying low oxalates. I then realized I have a condition that actually has a name called vulvadynia that is exacerbated by oxalates. Actually research on this condition then led into realizing there are yet more symptoms of oxalate sensitivity than was thought--including not being able to sleep very well at night plus sensitive skin, sore joints etc. Originally it was thought oxalates were just a problem for those that get kidney stones. Good news for me is that my vulva is finally healing!!

As far as the tannins go, I started looking into what it could possibly be about all the beans that I was eating of late that could be giving me headaches again. Quickly by googling it I discovered that many beans have tannins--though not all. I have been having trouble getting low amine meat so I concentrated on getting most of my protein from beans and then finally after 2 months this allergy surfaced. Tannins, like amines, tend to give folks migraines...of which I have had way too many in my life. Through trial and error I figured out yes I do have this tannin sensitivity too.

Today I hope to get some chicken from WF that is fresh enough to be OK (within 4 days from slaughter is OK--and then you parboil it and freeze it in meal size packages). Ironically for amine difficulties its best to microwave one's food when heating it up since reheating on the stove or cooking in the oven often creates too many amines.

I continue to take epsom salt baths though not as many as I was. The bentonite clay slaked at least 4 hours in water plus quickly mixed psyllium husks in more water seems to help me safely detox--which seems to be necessary for me given everything. Start with 1 teaspoon of each and gradually work up to a tablespoon of each or less.

I will write more about my diet later. There are lists however on the salicylate sensitivity forum plus on the oxalate info site that are very useful. You should also look up the failsafe diet, Sue Dengate and the Royal Prince Albert Hospital's dietary protocol listed online by RobotGirl. They are located in Australia and have done important research on all this that has not gotten a lot of notice in the US although it should. They are pioneers in the field of food sensitivity.

I am very busy today and this weekend. Am going to go to galleries on Sat. with my bf and a good artist friend. Today I have a lot on my plate at work too.

And yes I am resurrecting my art career at long last since finally I seem to be nearly if not at the root of this health thing! Plus a friend suggested that I write that book on my healing journey that I have been threatening to do for years now.